Chapter 1: In the story, there are two men: Lennie and George. They are friends. Lennie isn t a normal man, he s disabled. George is small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Lennie is his opposite. He s a huge man, shapeless of face, with large and pale eyes with wide, sloping shoulders. At the beginning, they are in the forest. Before they worked in a ranch, but they had to leave because Lennie had some trouble. We can see that George is the leader; That s him that gives orders to Lennie. Now they are going to walk to a ranch in Soledad. At the end of chapter 1, they are in the forest Lennie has a mouse in his pocket and he is stroking it. - 1 -
Chapter 1: Dear Lennie, I write to you a letter to remind you what you must do and must not do! When we arrive at the ranch, please let me talk to the boss and the other men. Say nothing! Juste stay with me! If you do what I said, you will have a lot of rabbits and you will be able to take care of them. Think of our future house with many animals! If there is a problem, remember that you will have to hide in the brush and I will come for you. Please, don t take any more mice in your pocket, it s disgusting! And don t ever touch the ladies again! So now, juste a thing, be and stay quiet! Good bye George - 2 -
Chapter 2: George and Lennie have arrived on the ranch. They are in their small room and they have met some people who work in the ranch. - A tall stoop-shouldered old man, we don t know his name, it s a man who does a lot of things in the ranch. - The buck: He s nigger. He s a nice man. He reads a lot of books. The boss gives him hell, when he s irritated. - The boss: He is a little stocky man who wears blue jeans trousers, a black unbottoned vest and a black coat. He wears high heeled boots and spurs. It s prooves that he wasn t a laboring man. According to the old man, the boss gets sometimes pretty mad but he s pretty nice. - Slim: He s a big tall skinner. He s the king of the ranch, he has a big authority. - Carlson: He s a robust and stout man. - Curley: He is the boss s son. It seems that he likes annoying Lennie. He has a wife. - Curley s wife: They have been married for 15 days and people on the ranch say that she s a tramp. She has full red lips, wide-spaced eyes with a lot of make-up. Her fingernails are red. Her hair hangs rolled in clusters like sausages. She wears a house dress. She s married and she got the eye. In this chapter, George says that Lennie is his cousin. Lennie mustn t say anything, George speaks for him. - 3 -
Chapter 2: Mrs Schneider, I m reading a book that could interest you. The name of this book is Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I think that it s a great story. It s about two men ; George and Lennie. I ve read two chapters and I ask myself questions. Maybe you can answer me.. With which men will Lennie and George be friends? And who is Curley s wife? She seems to be strange, I don t know why. Which job will Lennie and George do? Why does Curley like to annoy Lennie? For the moment, I haven t a lot of questions because it s the beginning of the story. If I have new questions, I could tell you. Thank you for answering my questions. Good bye! Séverine Bovey - 4 -
Chapter 3: Lennie and George are on the ranch, in the bunkhouse. Everybody is happy about Lennie s job. Slim gives Lennie a puppy. Lennie is so lucky that he sleeps with the puppies. George tells Slim Lennie grabbed a red-dressed girl in Weed. Carlson shoots Candy s old dog with his Luger because the dog stinks. Candy will live with Lennie and George in their future house, because Lennie and George haven t a lot of money and Candy can help them. Curley attacks Lennie, but it s only because he is laughing. Lennie does nothing, he says to George: Help me. George says to Lennie: Get im, Lennie!, And Lennie hits Curley and crushes Curley s hand. Slim orders Curley to say it was a machine accident. - 5 -
Chapter 3: Dear Mr. Steinbeck, I m reading your book. It s a good book, that interests me. Now I m reading the third chapter and I want to ask you some questions about this chapter. What s the real illness of Lennie? Why didn t Candy kill himself his dog? Why did he let Carlson doing it? And why did he say noting? If I were Candy, I wouldn t accept that someone should kill my dog, only because he disturbs the others. Why did George do nothing when Curley attacked Lennie? Did George go to Suzy s house? Candy will live with Lennie and George in the house where Lennie and George dream to live. Will they have some problems to pay the house? Will they have some problems with anybody or anything? Thanks to answer my questions and good luck for the rest. Good bye Séverine Bovey - 6 -
Chapter 4: George, Slim and the others guys are in Suzy s house except Crooks, Candy and Lennie, that are in the ranch. Lennie goes into Crooks s room, and they discuss. Crooks annoys Lennie.He asks him what would he do if George didn t come back to the ranch. But Lennie doesn t understand very well he gets upset. After, Candy comes into the room and they talk about their dreams. Later, Curley s wife shows up and insults them all. She infers that Lennie is the machine which got Curley. She threatens Crooks with a lynching. Then the men come back to the ranch and everybody goes into their room. - 7 -
Chapter 4: Dear Curley s wife, I m sorry but I don t know your name! I write you a letter to ask you some questions. In the chapter, and in all the other chapters, you come in the men s room, for example, to see if your husband is here, but you have no reasons to come. It s only to see what happens and to give someone the eye. Why do you do this? You have a husband. And I ve another question ; Why are you like this with Lennie? He isn t normal and you know this. So why are you like this? Do you want to prove? Lennie is like a kid and doesn t know how to defend himself! So can you tell me what are you looking for? I think that you are nice Hough and I think too that it s boring for you to be only with men and never to know what to do, but sometimes you are a little strange, and I don t know why.. Thank you for answering my questions! Good bye! Séverine Bovey - 8 -
Chapter 5: While the rest is playing horseshoes, Lennie is killing his puppy in the barn. Curley s wife shows up and speaks with Lennie about her life and what she would like to do. Lennie explains his fondness for soft things, and Curley s wife encourages him to stroke her hair. When she wants to stop him, Lennie breaks her neck out of fear. Lennie is in panic, so he leaves. Candy finds Curley s dead wife and brings George. When the men find out, Curley goes for his shotgun. Carlson goes for his Luger but it s missing and he assumes Lennie took it. Candy stays with the body while all are going after Lennie. - 9 -
Chapter 5: Dear myself, I ve finished the fifth chapter, and I think it s a great chapter. It s interesting. Lennie has really a big problem and he must go into a hospital to have a medical treatment. I was shocked that he killed Curley s wife. I didn t expect as much! Did the men meet Lennie again? I think that George met him again, but will Curley kill Lennie? I don t know. Curley s reaction was understandable, I would have done like him; But in this situation Curley knows that Lennie isn t a normal man, so it s complicated. On the whole, for the moment, I find that this story is good. I like it. But there is just one thing that is negative ; the expression. They are some expression that are difficult for the understanding of the novel. So it s a little difficult to understand everything. But it s a nice story. Séverine Bovey - 10 -
Chapter 6: Lennie is beside the river, in the brush, like George had told him. He is waiting for george. His dead Aunt Clara appears and scolds him. A huge imaginary rabbit tells him George will leave him. They tell him that Lennie did some bad things, and that George is too good and that he is going to leave him. Suddenly George comes, Lennie is so happy. While they are talking about their dreams, George puts the Luger, that he robbed, to the base of Lennie s skull and fires. When the men of the ranch see Lennie, everyone assumes George took the gun from him and shot him. They are excited. Only Slim was compassionate, and he takes George for a drink. Chapter 6: - 11 -
Dear George, I think that you are sad that Lennie died. How could you do this? You have a lot of courage! But I understand ; You knew that Lennie would die, and you prefered to kill him yourself. It was not the others: Curley, Carlson or Slim that had to do it. It s like Candy s dog. Candy would have prefered to kill his dog himself. And now? What will you do? Will yo stay in the ranch? Will you leave? And your dream to have a house, is it always topical? If yes; will you go with Candy or alone? Or will you save money and then go away? I have a last question: One day will you tell the truth about your murder of Lennie? Thanks for your answers! Good bye Séverine Bovey - 12 -